Vince Lombardi

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Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American football. He was the driving force of the Green Bay Packers, who dominated the National Football League during his tenure as coach.

Early life

Vincent Lombardi was born on June 11, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York to Italian-born father Enrigo Lombardi and Matilda Izzo, who was born in Brooklyn, also of Italian descent. He studied for two years to become a Catholic priest before entering the St. Francis Preparatory High School, where he was a standout on the football team. In 1933 Lombardi began studying at Fordham University in New York City. After a single year, Lombardi joined the varsity football team and became a member of Fordham's imposing front line, which became known as the Seven Blocks of Granite. It held Fordham's opponents scoreless several times during a string of 25 consecutive victories. Lombardi obtained his business degree in 1937, graduating cum laude.

After two years of night classes and semi-professional football with the Wilmington Clippers, Lombardi took a coaching job at a high school in New Jersey. He married his wife, Marie Planitz, in 1940. In 1947, he coached Fordham's freshman football team, and the next year he served as an assistant coach for the varsity team.

In 1949, Lombardi took a job coaching the varsity defensive line for the United States Military Academy, a position that would greatly influence his future coaching style. Under coach Earl Blaik, Lombardi worked long hours and refined his leadership skills. Blaik's emphasis on execution would become a hallmark of Lombardi's NFL teams.

Professional coaching career

Lombardi began his career as a professional football coach in 1954, when he became the Offensive Coordinator for the New York Giants. The Giants had finished the previous season with a woeful 3-9 record, but Lombardi and Defensive Coordinator Tom Landry needed only three years to turn the team into a championship team. Lombardi relied on the talents of the great Frank Gifford, whom Lombardi switched from defense to offense as a pass-option player.

Lombardi was not content, however, to remain an assistant coach, and in 1958 he accepted the position of head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers. The Packers at the time were dismal, having won only a single game the previous season, but Lombardi felt that his coaching skills were equal to the challenge. Lombardi immediately began building his reputation as an extraordinarily demanding coach, creating punishing training regimens and expecting absolute dedication and effort from his players. His unrelenting coaching philosophy paid off with a remarkable 105-35-6 record as a head coach, and he never coached a losing season. After losing his first playoff game, in 1960, he never again lost a game in the postseason. He led the Packers to a still-unmatched three consecutive NFL championships in 1965, 1966, and 1967. The Packers also won the first two Super Bowls under his leadership. Lombardi's popularity was so great that Richard Nixon supposedly considered naming him his running mate for the election, only to be reminded by an advisor that Lombardi was a Kennedy Democrat.

As coach of the Packers, Lombardi converted Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung to halfback, running a play he had originally developed for Gifford that would become known as the Packer power sweep.

Although Lombardi retired as head coach of the Packers in 1967, his competitive drive led him to return to the NFL in 1969 as coach of the Washington Redskins, where he broke a string of 14 losing seasons. Unfortunately, he was soon after diagnosed with cancer, and died on September 3, 1970. Many people made long journeys to attend his funeral, and hardened football veterans wept openly at the service; President Nixon went so far as to send a telegram of condolence signed "The People". Lombardi was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and in that year the NFL's trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy in his honor.

The Ice Bowl

One of the most famous games in the history of football was the NFL championship game of 1967, in which his team played the Dallas Cowboys in Green Bay. The game time temperature was −13 °F (−25 °C), and the game has come to be known as the Ice Bowl. Near the end of the game, with time running out, the Packers were behind by three points, and near the goal line. Their quarterback, Bart Starr, ran a quarterback sneak, with guard Jerry Kramer taking out Dallas player Jethro Pugh; Starr scored the touchdown and won the game in the final seconds. The play actually called for Starr to hand off to Chuck Mercein, a little known running back who had played a major part in propelling the Packers down the field on the final drive. But Starr, feeling the field was too icy and footing too precarious, decided to keep the ball and dive in himself, surprising even his own teammates. Lombardi, explaining why he had not chosen to kick a game-tying field goal, said of that play, "We gambled and we won."

Legacy

In addition to Lombardi's contributions to the history of professional football, Lombardi is legendary for his coaching philosophy and motivational skills. Many of Lombardi's speeches continue to be quoted frequently today, and he is well known as being unequivocally committed to winning. One of his most famous maxims is "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," although he did not coin the phrase and the exact words he used are disputed. Lombardi's players were wholeheartedly devoted to him, and his emphasis on hard work and dedication endeared him to millions who admired his values.

Trivia

In the 1979 movie Rock 'n' Roll High School, the high school was called Vince Lombardi High.

Two places in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, are dedicated or rehonored in Vince Lombardi's honor -- P.S. 204 on 15th Avenue and 81st Street is named the Vince Lombardi Public School (unofficial name), and the entire Bensonhurst stretch of 16th Avenue is dedicated by the City of New York as "Vince Lombardi Boulevard."

See also

• Vince Lombardi Trophy
• Lombardi Award

Reference

• VinceLombardi.com
• Lombardi's Bust at the Hall of Fame